What Have Witnesses Said
The January 7 speech was seen by Mr Trump’s aides as an effort to make up for his inaction the day before, when he waited hours to tell the rioters to leave the Capitol and then when he did, in a video filmed in the Rose Garden, he told the rioters they were “very special”.
In the video released by Ms Luria, Trump aide Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s husband, says he had spoken with other aides and they were trying to put remarks together for the president.
“We felt like it was important to further call for de-escalation,” Mr Kushner tells the committee.
When the committee asks Mr Kushner why Mr Trump crossed out specific lines, he responds, twice: “I don’t know.”
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said the scramble to get Mr Trump to speak again on January 7 was partly because of “large concern” within the White House that some of his cabinet officials might try to invoke the constitutional process of the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
The newly released video also includes testimony from John McEntee, then the director of the White House presidential personnel office and one of Mr Trump’s closest aides at the time.
Mr McEntee says in the video Mr Kushner asked him to “nudge this along” to make sure Mr Trump delivered the speech, and confirms the former US president was reluctant to do so.
Pat Cipollone, the former top White House lawyer, also says he believes Mr Trump should have forcefully laid out the consequences for the rioters.
Pence Was Stuck For 13 Minutes As Secret Service Tried To Find Clear Path Out
The vice president was stuck in his office for 13 minutes as Secret Service agents tried to find a safe route to get him to a secure location, Luria said.
“As rioters were entering the building, the Secret Service held Vice President Pence in his office right off the Senate Chamber for 13 minutes as they worked to clear a safe path,” Luria said.
She also played dramatic radio footage from the agents, who said rioters were just feet away and they were concerned about becoming trapped.
“If we lose any more time, we may lose the ability to leave,” one of the agents said.
“There are six officers between us and the people that are 5 to 10 feet away from me,” another said.
Mccarthy Called Trump Then Went To Ivanka And Jared For Help Kinzinger Says
Christina Zhao
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was one of the many people in Trump’s orbit who pushed him to tell rioters to leave the Capitol on Jan. 6, Kinzinger said.
Kinzinger said McCarthy reached Trump by phone and urged him to call off the mob of his supporters, and when Trump refused, McCarthy then reached out to his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Several witnesses, including Marc Short, who was Pence’s chief of staff, and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., testified that McCarthy confirmed the conversation with Trump on Jan. 6.
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Matthews Says Another Trump Aide Said Condemning The Violence Would Be ‘handing A Win To The Media’
Sarah Matthews said in live testimony that a conversation unfolded in the White House press office on Jan. 6 about Trump’s latest two tweets being insufficient.
“A colleague suggested that the president shouldnt condemn the violence because they thought it would be ‘handing a win to the media,'” Matthews said during the hearing.
“I disagreed. I thought that we should condemn the violence and condemn it unequivocally. And I thought that he needed to include a call to action and to tell these people to go home, and a debate ensued over it,” she said.
Matthews said she became “visibly frustrated” and her colleagues were aware.
“I couldnt believe that were arguing over this and in the middle of the West Wing,” she said, about concerns over the politics of a tweet. “So I motioned up at the TV, and I said, ‘Do you think it looks like were effing winning? Because I dont think it does.'”
First On Cnn: Top Trump Adviser Stephen Miller Testifies To January 6 Federal Grand Jury
Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller testified on Tuesday to a federal grand jury in Washington, DC, as part of the January 6, 2021, investigation, CNN has learned, making him the first known witness to testify since the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to oversee the criminal investigations around the former president.
Miller was at the federal courthouse in downtown Washington for several hours throughout Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the investigation. January 6 lead prosecutor Thomas Windom was spotted at the same federal courthouse on Tuesday.
Windom is expected to join the newly created Special Counsels Office led by longtime public corruption prosecutor Jack Smith and will continue leading the investigation into former President Donald Trumps role in efforts to impede the transfer of power following the 2020 election.
Federal investigators have for months sought information from Trumps inner circle in the White House, attempting to gather insight into Trumps state of mind before his supporters rioted on January 6.
Miller, a former White House speechwriter and senior adviser to Trump, could provide a firsthand account of the former presidents preparations for his speech at the Ellipse in Washington on January 6, including how he wanted to inspire his supporters, many of whom went on to attack the Capitol and disrupt Congress.
Miller was first subpoenaed in the federal criminal investigation months ago.
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Capitol Police Officer Stunned At Herschmann’s Statement Trump Advisers Were ‘pretty Drained’
Christopher Cicchiello
As rioters were still at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and police scrambled to defend it, Herschmann said of the day that fellow Trump aides and advisers “were pretty drained.”
“Id have to go back and look, but I believe law enforcement was either there or moving in, or going to take charge. I dont think there was anything else to do,” Herschmann said in video testimony that the committee showed.
But video footage showed the insurrection was far from over. And Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, a U.S. Capitol police officer who defended the Lower West Terrace, tweeted an exasperated message following Herschmann’s statements.
“They were emotional drained from watching us fighting. Are you serious?” he wrote. When Gonell testified before the committee, he compared the Capitol that day to a medieval battleground.
Rep Luria: ‘nearly Everyone’ Advised Trump To Call Off The Riot
Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., said in her opening statement that “nearly everyone” in Trump’s orbit tried to advise him to direct his supporters to leave the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 and to “disperse and halt the violence.”
“Virtually everyone told President Trump to condemn the violence in clear and unmistakable terms,” she said. “And those on Capitol Hill, and across the nation, begged President Trump to help. But the former president chose not to do what all of these people begged. He refused to tell the mob to leave until 4:17, when he tweeted out a video statement filmed in the Rose Garden.”
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Matthews Says Trump’s Tweet Criticizing Pence Gave Capitol Mob A ‘green Light’
Former Trump national security aide Matt Pottinger explained in live testimony that he decided to resign after seeing a tweet from Trump on Jan. 6 at 2:24 p.m. in which the then-president called his vice president, Mike Pence, a coward and blamed him for not stopping the certification.
“I read it and was quite disturbed by it,” Pottinger said during the hearing. “I was disturbed and worried to see the president attacking Vice President Pence for doing his constitutional duty. So the tweet looked to me like the opposite of what we really needed that moment, which was a de-escalation.”
“Thats why I said earlier that it looked like fuel being poured on the fire,” he said. “That would be my last day at the White House. I simply didnt want to be associated with the events that were unfolding on the Capitol.”
Kellyanne Conway Appears Voluntarily For Interview With Jan 6 Committee
Former President Donald Trumps senior aide Stephen Miller has reportedly become the first known witness to testify in the Justice Departments criminal investigations into the ex commander-in-chief since the appointment of a special counsel.
Miller provided his testimony at a federal courthouse in downtown Washington, DC, on Tuesday, according to CNN. He reportedly answered questions for several hours related to the governments investigation into the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Miller, 37, served as Trumps senior policy adviser and director of speechwriting through his entire presidency. He was subpoenaed in the federal investigation earlier this year, and hes also testified in the House Jan. 6 committees separate investigation into the event.
The former White House advisor told the committee that he spoke to the former 76-year-old president for several minutes on Jan. 6, 2021, before the riot, about his planned speech at his Stop the Steal rally near the White House.
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‘we Are Going To The Capitol’
The president used “we” but he didn’t join them as his supporters took the short walk from the rally to Congress.
He said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.”
What Can We Expect From The Next Hearing
The committee investigating the January 6 attack says it will interview more former cabinet secretaries in and and is prepared to subpoena the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Liz Cheney, the committee’s Republican vice-chair, did not identify the Trump administration officials who might come forward, but the committee has previously shown interest in speaking to those believed to have considered trying to remove Mr Trump from office after the January 6 riot.
The committee also wants to get to the bottom of missing Secret Service texts that may shed further light on Mr Trump’s actions during the insurrection, particularly after earlier testimony about his confrontation with security as he tried to join supporters at the Capitol.
ABC/wires
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‘i Dont Want To Say The Election Is Over’ Trump Said In New Jan 7 Footage
Christina Zhao
The committee played additional, never-before-seen footage of Trump struggling to refine a taped message to the country a day after the riot. The outtakes show the then-president having a hard time with using the word “yesterday” and refusing to say that the “election is over.”
“To those who broke the law, you will pay. You do not represent our movement, you do not represent our country, and if you broke the law …” Trump said, pausing. “I can’t say that I’m not I already said, ‘You will pay.'”
“But this election is now over. Congress has certified the results,” Trump continued later in the video, before interrupting himself again. “I dont want to say the election is over. I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election is over, OK?
Two Versions Of A Possible Republican Candidate
Several hours before Trump took the stage on Tuesday, his former vice president, Mike Pence, addressed a different conservative audience in Washington, DC, offering an alternative version of a possible Republican presidential candidate.
Pence, who fell out with Trump after rebuffing pressure to overturn Bidens election victory, sought to downplay his policy differences with the former president while promising a new tone.
I dont know that the president and I differ on issues, Pence told a conservative student group. But we may differ on focus.
I believe conservatives must focus on the future to win back America. We cant afford to take our eyes off the road in front of us because whats at stake is the very survival of our way of life, he said.
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‘peacefully And Patriotically Make Your Voices Heard’
This was the part of Mr Trump’s speech that his defenders have seized on to show that he never incited the crowd.
He said: “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
The language was very different from other sections, which borrowed more from combat or war.
Indeed, Mr Trump’s lawyers have suggested they will highlight his use of the word “peacefully” in the trial.
Jason Miller Said He Disagreed With Trump On Orderly Transition Statement
Jason Miller, a Trump campaign adviser, told the committee that after the joint session had resumed on Jan. 6, he heard nothing from Trump or the White House about assuring the country there would be a peaceful transfer of power.
Miller then decided to draft a statement and called the president at 9:23 p.m. to persuade him to release it.
Asked if Trump disagreed with what he wrote in the statement, Miller told the committee in video testimony aired during the hearing, “Id say just that he wanted to say ‘peaceful transition,’ and I said, ‘That ships kind of already sailed, so were going to say ‘orderly transition.'”
“That was about the extent of disagreement or pushback from the conversation,” he said.
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In Recorded Video Trump Ignored Script Telling Rioters To Leave Capitol
Trump’s staff had prepared a script for him to record a video message in the Rose Garden calling on his supporters to immediately leave the Capitol, but “he refused to use it,” Luria said.
An excerpt of the prepared remarks presented at the hearing and stamped “President Has Seen” said: I am asking you to leave the Capitol Hill region NOW and go home in a peaceful way.
Here Is The Full Transcript Of Trumps Speech:
The media will not show the magnitude of this crowd. Even I, when I turned on today, I looked, and I saw thousands of people here, but you dont see hundreds of thousands of people behind you because they dont want to show that. We have hundreds of thousands of people here, and I just want them to be recognised by the fake news media. Turn your cameras please and show whats really happening out here because these people are not going to take it any longer.
Theyre not going to take it any longer. Go ahead. Turn your cameras, please. Would you show? They came from all over the world, actually, but they came from all over our country. I just really want to see what they do. I just want to see how they covered. Ive never seen anything like it. But it would be really great if we could be covered fairly by the media. The media is the biggest problem we have as far as Im concerned, single biggest problem, the fake news and the big tech. Big tech is now coming into their own. We beat them four years ago. We surprised them. We took them by surprise and this year, they rigged an election.
Crowd: Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!
Crowd: We love Trump! We love Trump! We love Trump!
Crowd: Yes!
So, I mean, I could go on and on about this fraud that took place in every state and all of these legislatures want this back. I dont want to do it to you because I love you and its freezing out here, but I could just go on forever. I can tell you this
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Donald Trump‘s Senate trial is underway. He was impeached by the House for a second time on the charge of “incitement to insurrection” ion 13 January after his supporters breached the US Capitol during a joint session of Congress confirming presidential election results.
The riot came after a “Save America Rally” in the Ellipse, a park near the White House, in which Mr Trump spoke for more than an hour in an airing of grievances against the election, the media, the Democrats and more.
The speech, which proceeded the violence in the US Capitol on 6 January, has become a central piece of evidence in support and defence of the charge of incitement.
Democrats point to Mr Trump’s explicit call to supporters to “walk down to the Capitol”:
“Now it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. After this, were going to walk down and Ill be there with you. Were going to walk down. Were going to walk down, any one you want, but I think right here. Were going walk down to the Capitol, and were going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women. Were probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because youll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
Navy Vet Luria Says Jan 6 Was Personal: ‘i Never Imagined The Enemy Would Come From Within’
Luria said in her closing statement that the insurrection on Jan. 6 was personal to her because she first “swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic” when she entered the U.S. Naval Academy at age 17.
“I spent two decades serving on ships at sea, defending our nation from known and identifiable foreign enemies who sought to do us harm,” she said.
“I never imagined that that enemy would come from within,” Luria continued. “I was not as prescient as Abraham Lincoln, who 23 years before the Civil War said, ‘If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.'”
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